Aison
Aison was a Third Age nation which shared borders with Remon in the northwest and Yamato in the northeast after the Cataclysm. Its capital was Myridia, and its human lands were ruled by High Prophet Xerathas d'Zarnagon in its last years. After a millennium-long peace, the kingdom was initially conquered by the Yamato Empire until the Grey Cult took over in the aftermath of the Cataclysm and turned it into a theocracy centered around the Godslayer. Since then the cult tried to unite the continent and the lands of the former kingdom by both diplomacy and force. The Catastrophe that ushered in the Fourth Age ended Aison which was split by magical forces. Its successor states are as of now unknown. History Origins :See: Grandbell, Isaac, Verdane After the Explosion rearranged the continents and began the Third Age, the kingdoms of Grandbell, Isaac and Verdane collided, creating a larger continent which became known as Aison. Thanks to actions of esteemed heroes of the past age such as Grady Silverbranch who assisted the fledgling government of the new kingdom, Aison became a stable, prosperous nation with a strong military which provided security for its citizens. Humans, elves and dwarves all lived in harmony in their respective areas while central power lay within Myridia located in the Heartlands. Aison also had a sizable dragon population in the Roost, and Aisonians thankfully knew to let the great beasts live in peace. The former island referred to as Beryl Isle also had a sizable population of various intelligent monkeys, and Maderas Woods was known to be a home of pixies. Distreyd Era Magestar Conspiracy In 1000 AE, the era of tranquility which had lasted for a thousand years came to a sudden and violent end when King Byron Kagawest was targeted during the Festival of the Ascension in Reno but was saved by the sacrifice of Admiral Iorek Johansen who jumped in front of him and took the poisoned arrow in his stead. Various people from the crowd gave chase to the would-be assassin who appeared to be of elven origin based on the bow that had been used to shoot at the king. This troubled Byron greatly because never before had anyone attacked royalty in Aison in such a bold manner. The assassination attempt was only the beginning of Aison's worries, however. There was a conspiracy within the Magestar among some of its masters who used the services of the Clergy of Nergal to discredit the rival school Graves Hall and ultimately annihilated it completely. The clergy infiltrated Graves Hall with Vepar's blessing and unleashed a fire elemental which destroyed the military school and slaughtered dozens of people. It took the intervention of Graves Hall graduate paladin Marcus Sarillius, the magic sword Dusk which Marcus had received from the wandering cleric Schuldich Cedheros, and a group of random heroes to put an end to the fire elemental's rampage. Marcus and the motley crew eventually ended up in the Magestar where they discovered the culprits behind the destruction of Graves Hall. The conspiracy was led by Master Vepar who, seeing Dusk in Marcus's possession and sensing its divine power, desired the magic within the sword for himself. A battle ensued between the treacherous mages and Marcus's posse, but ultimately the paladin's forces were victorious, and the traitors either died or fled in the chaotic aftermath of the battle. Although the threats found in the Magestar as well as Lieutenant Paul Fascit's short-lived attempt at a military coup had been dealt with and Byron had been informed of these dark events, it kept attention away from the true culprits: the Clergy of Nergal which had been manipulating the treacherous Magestar masters and Fascit for the gain of Nergal, the God of War. The attempted assassination of the king, the Magestar conspiracy and Fascit's insurrection were just pieces of a larger whole: a plot by Nergal to plunge the whole world into a devastating war and use the resulting chaos to strengthen himself and release the imprisoned Mardük, God of Chaos. Yamatian Invasion Nergal's plan came to fruition when the combined forces of the Yamato Empire and the Clergy of Mardük began taking over other kingdoms in what became known as the Yamatian Invasion. The nations of Libaterra, Maar Sul, Scundia and Remon fell over the following years thanks to the Yamatians' blitzkrieg tactics which caught the kingdoms by surprise. Aison remained as the last bastion of Light against the growing forces of Darkness and the powers of the dark god Mardük. However, the Clergy of Nergal helped the Clergy of Mardük and Yamato conduct a daring assault straight into the Heartlands of the well-defended kingdom. Although Aisonians had expected Yamato to try to attack them from their borderlands, they hadn't expected the Empire to actually assault the very heart of the kingdom through Carpie Bay which was seen as a suicide. Nevertheless, the dark clergy used a few tricks, some of which were magical, to advance deep into Aisonian territory and shield the empire's forces from prying Aisonian eyes and soon began the devastating First Battle of Myridia for control of the Aisonian capital. Realizing that the Yamatians had tricked his forces and seeing elves retreat for fear of their safety, Byron ordered all citizens to be evacuated into the dwarven mountains until they could reclaim their kingdom from the Yamatians. As soon as Myridia had been taken over, the dark cleric Zarnagon was appointed as Yamato's and the Clergy of Mardük's representative in Aison, and he became known as the Witch King of Myridia. Conspiracies within his forces as well as Aisonian rebels kept interfering with his plans, and he began the Great Purge which cost several lives in the military as well as among citizens and even some criminal elements such as the Dwarven Triad which suffered heavily in the years of oppression. The clerics of Mardük betrayed the clerics of Nergal by backstabbing them and leaving them to die, but some clerics survived and sided with the rebels in Magestar with hopes of paying back the dark clergy for its treachery. Although the loyalists and Magestar masters were skeptical of the Clergy of Nergal's goodwill, they ended up accepting their help and learned valuable information from them on how to put an end to the Clergy of Mardük's dark magic with help from the Cricket Ball of Magic. Great War In 1003 AE rebel factions united in Remon and began calling themselves the Grand Alliance as the Great War against Yamato and the Clergy of Mardük began. Once the Alliance had taken over Remon and Maar Sul with help from an Aisonian fellowship which had delivered the Cricket Ball of Magic to them, it moved its forces to liberate Aison next. Their forces were boosted by the Aisonian rebels and the renegade clerics of Nergal. The Alliance also sent a task force led by Axikasha Keiran to infiltrate Myridia and steal Dusk's twin sword Dawn which was held by Zarnagon's officer Varalia Earthhaven. Ax was ultimately successful in the mission but lost several of her men in the process. The infiltration led to the Second Battle of Myridia during which the Alliance took over the battered capital although Zarnagon managed to flee before he could be caught. Several battalions from the Alliance's army moved to Libaterra to liberate it next while some Alliance forces remained behind to secure the few pockets of Yamatian resistance left on the Aisonian countryside. However, the Cataclysm ended the Great War abruptly and caused the downfall of Yamato when demon hordes appeared from a strange portal and invaded the once mighty empire's homeland. The Alliance fled back home with its tail between its legs with those who had survived the tumultuous events. The Godslayer, which had begun the Cataclysm and helped unleash the demons and made them run amok, flew to Myridia and took over the city from its weary defenders. A following quickly grew around the great beast which had slain gods, and gave rise to the Grey Cult which quickly took over many vital cities in the Aisonian countryside under the leadership of High Prophet Xerathas d'Zarnagon, son of Witch King Zarnagon. Aison had changed leadership from forces of a dark god to another. The kingdom of Aison ceased to be and would now be known as a theocracy with the Grey Cult as its guiding light. Godslayer Era Xerathas, Varalia and the rest of the cult spent the following decade stabilizing Aison and turning it into one of the more prosperous nations in the post-Cataclysm world which had made the continents collide with one another. Several rampaging demons were taken into custody and either enslaved or killed while the cult kept peace in the countryside. Many people were forcibly indoctrinated into the cult, thus ensuring stability and respect among the populace which both feared and adored the Godslayer and its fanatic supporters. The appearance of the strange Dwellers on Potential Island in 1016 AE forced the cult into action although they weren't yet fully aware of the Dwellers' true nature. The cult began taking more extreme measures as it not only had to prepare for an eventual demon invasion from Yamato but also this new threat on the theocracy's very doorstep. A death cult known as the Totenkopfs entered Aisonian politics soon after and became advisors of Xerathas although some in the cult suspected that something was wrong because the High Prophet didn't usually make deals with foreign forces. These suspicions turned out to be correct when it turned out that the Totenkopfs had been manipulating Xerathas and the cult to test magic collars on demons to keep them enslaved and had sent them to besiege the Magestar which still resisted the cult's rule. When the mages managed to disable the collars' magic and the enraged demon slaves turned against their masters in the cult, Xerathas and his officers realized the extent of the Totenkopfs' treachery and severed ties with them. Since then, the cult has been actively hunting down renegade slave demons and putting an end to the threat they pose. They're also trying to deal with the problem of an eventual invasion from Yamato as well as the rise of dangerous factions such as the new Grand Alliance and the Crimson Coalition. The cult has also spent considerable time harrassing the elves of Mori'Taure and the dwarves of Korstalven in an effort to unite the reclusive races under the cult's grey banner and thus create a truly united Aisonian continent which can withstand any future invasion and threat to the Godslayer's rule. Geography Seven Great Regions :See: Aison Map (Distreyd Era), World Map (Godslayer Era) Aison is divided into what are commonly referred to as the Seven Great Regions, each of which covers one particular area of the continent. The regions are (clockwise from the bottom): The Arm, Eest Side, Dwarf Lands, Heartlands, Dry Lands, Eastern Isles and South Plains. Much of the continent is covered in vast plains of grasslands, but there are mountain ranges too such as the Glenfiddich Range in the north and the Roost in the southeast. Two great woods are both located in the Heartlands: the elven Mori'Taure to the west and Maderas Woods to the east while the Eastern Isles in the far east are so seasonal that they're covered by thick jungle. Aison's inner regions are protected not only by the mountains in the north and the vast plains in the west and the east but also by the narrow entrance to Carpie Bay in the south which is protected by cliffside and guard posts on both sides of the strait leading into it. Climate Due to the vastness of the Aisonian continent, its climate varies from location to location. Northern Aison and its mountain ranges are cold and windy, and the Dry Lands in the northeast are dry. Eastern Aison is warm and seasonal, so much so that the Eastern Isles are covered in thick jungle, and Paraiso has a sunny, near-tropical beach throughout most of the year. The climate in Southern Aison is moderate, and Western Aison is rather humid, which is why it tends to rain a lot in the Eest Side and the areas west of it so much so that a huge bog named Blackmoor exists in the far west near Potential Island. The weather in the Heartlands is moderate. Demographics Overview Aison, due to its long history and vast size, is a home to many peoples and ethnic minorities who populate it. Humans are the most prominent race due to having populated the plains, and have several ethnicities who live in different areas and cities. The continent also has a sizable dwarven population living mainly within Glenfiddich Range, and elves who have mostly resided in their forest home of Mori'Taure. After the Great Purge became more intense since the Cataclysm, the elves of Mori'Taure have been forced to either flee from or hide deeper into their woods or become indoctrinated into the cult after the cult successfully burned down parts of the forest in 1017 AE. The dragons populate the Roost, a mountain range in the southeast, and are respected and feared by all other races in the region. Since 1016 AE, the regions in the far west, most notably Potential Island and Blackmoor, have seen the rise of mysterious, intelligent beings known only as the Dwellers who have so far remained in hiding, making most of Aison unaware of their existence. Peoples :See: Peoples City of Myridia :See: Myridia Culture Due to its history and multitude of races and ethnic groups, Aison's culture is rich and multi-layered. The people of Paraiso are fond of fiestas which are grand celebrations under the sun. The elves are more reserved, their high-born keeping to themselves most of the time, even those who have become followers of the Godslayer. The dwarves are a jolly and gruff people who protect their deepest underground halls with ferocity but who are welcoming to those in need of aid. People living in harsher conditions, such as Fernsdale which is close to the jungle in the east, are more cautious because of the proximity of the unknown. Geopolitics The dwarves live in Kilbannock and the nearby mountain range which is named Glenfiddich Range. Many elves used to live in Tel'Elee and the surrounding forest of Mori'Taure, but many of them have recently been driven to Remon due to the actions of the Grey Cult. Most humans and elves get along well and live together in various cities, and dragons live on the southeastern mountain range, known as the Roost. New Molson suffers occasionally from small demon raiding parties but for the most part Aison is relatively peaceful. Most of Aison (with the exception of Kilbannock, Magestar, Tel'Elee, and the Roost) has been under control of the Grey Cult since the Cataclysm. The leader of the Cult is the Godslayer whom Aisonians worship as their new god, which makes Aison a theocracy. High Prophet Xerathas d'Zarnagon acts as the Godslayer's spokesman while the beast is sleeping in Myridia. Potential Island, which is located in the westernmost region of Aison, can now be accessed from the mainland via a land bridge, and expeditions have been sent to explore this previously unknown area. See also *Aison Map (Distreyd Era) *Great Purge *Grey Cult *Myridia *World Map (Godslayer Era) * Category:Grey Cult Category:Third Age nations